Can You Take Osha Root Everyday? (Yes, Here's How)

Can you take osha root everyday? Yes. Bear Root is made as a daily ritual, one or two droppers a day, any month of the year. Osha (Ligusticum porteri) is a mountain plant of Northern Mexico, a relative of lovage in the carrot and parsley family, and Mara bottles the root as a 50 ml tincture in dark Miron glass. Taking it takes about 30 seconds, and the bottle is sized for a month or more of daily use.

Can you take osha root everyday, any time of year?

Bear Root's product page gives a daily amount, 1 to 2 droppers a day, and the bottle is sized around that habit. Nothing about it is tied to a month or a season. You can take it in March or in August, before work or after a long run.

The daily pattern is old. Rarámuri families in the Sierra Tarahumara of Northern Mexico, who call the plant wasía, brewed the root as a tea. In New Mexico, Hispanic families know it as chuchupate and made a tea of it too. For both, osha was a root kept in the house and used often.

How to take osha root tincture

There are two ways to take it.

1. Fill the dropper and squeeze 1 to 2 droppers under your tongue.
2. Hold it there for 20 to 30 seconds, then swallow.
3. Or skip the hold and stir the same amount into a drink.

Under the tongue is the quickest. The drink route suits people who would rather taste the root in the background. Both count as one serving, and you take it the same way on day one as on day forty.

Where it fits in the day

A ritual sticks when it attaches to something you already do. Some easy places to fit it in:

• Morning tea, stirred in once the cup has cooled enough to drink.
• An evening tea before bed.
• A water bottle after a hike or a run, so it goes down with the first long drink.
• A glass of juice or a smoothie at breakfast.
• Straight under the tongue at the bathroom sink, next to the toothbrush.

We have a separate page on adding Bear Root to a cup of tea if that is the version you want. The dropper means the amount stays the same whichever drink you pick.

A bottle lasts 30 to 50 days

At 1 to 2 droppers a day, one 50 ml bottle of Bear Root runs 30 to 50 days. Two droppers every day puts you near the 30 day end. One dropper a day stretches it toward 50.

Why a tincture makes osha root daily practical

For most of its history, osha was dug, dried and kept as whole root. That works for a household with time to cut and brew it. For a daily habit it is a lot of work, and the amount changes with every piece you cut.

A tincture is an alcohol extract of the root, and it changes the routine in three practical ways. The dropper gives you the same measured amount every time. There is nothing to grind or steep, so the whole ritual fits into the time it takes to boil a kettle. And the extract stays sealed in its bottle between uses.

The glass does real work here. If you are comparing tinctures, dark amber glass is a step in the right direction because it blocks some light. The gold standard is dark Miron glass, a deep violet glass that keeps light off the extract. Bear Root is bottled in dark Miron glass, so the 30th day's dropper comes from the same well-kept extract as the first.

The label is short. Simple ingredients: premium quality extract.

Taste

Bear Root is earthy and warming, with a sharp, celery-like bite from the root. If you know lovage, the flavour will be familiar, since osha is a close relative. Wikipedia's entry on the plant describes the root as smelling of celery and butterscotch. Under the tongue the flavour is strong for the first few seconds and then settles. In a smoothie it mostly disappears behind the fruit.

People have kept osha close for centuries

The name bear root comes from the animals. The story goes that bears dig up the root when they wake from hibernation and chew it. Ethnobotanist Shawn Sigstedt watched captive bears chew osha and rub the mash into their fur, and the Diné (Navajo) tell of a bear that gave them the root as medicine. The Lakota name, mato tapejuta, means bear medicine.

Other peoples have their own records. Zuni healers chewed the root during curing ceremonies and used it as a wash and for sore throats. Rarámuri tea made from the root was given for stomach pain and fever. A piece of osha was found in a Utah medicine bundle dated to between 200 and 600 years old. That is a long record of people carrying the root with them as an everyday thing.

For the plant's full background, from where it grows to how it is harvested, see our complete guide to osha root.

What researchers at UTEP found in 2008

In 2008, Oscar Beltran at the University of Texas at El Paso tested three plants used in Northern Mexico and the Southwest against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium behind TB. Osha was chosen because the Rarámuri (Tarahumara) use it for TB and other respiratory infections. In the lab, the osha extract stopped more than half the growth of the bacterium at the lowest concentration tested. At that concentration it showed no toxicity to human cells. The other two plants in the study were toxic to cells at much lower concentrations.

Bear Root – Osha Root Tincture

50 ml dropper bottle. Ligusticum porteri from the mountains of Northern Mexico.

Add to bag

Bear Root considerations

The recommendation on the product page: "Contains alcohol. Not recommended during pregnancy. If you're nursing or taking medication, ask your doctor before using it."

Questions people ask

How many droppers of osha root tincture a day?

Bear Root's page says 1 to 2 droppers a day. Hold it under the tongue for 20 to 30 seconds and swallow, or stir it into a drink.

What is the best time of day to take osha root?

Whichever time you will keep to. Morning tea, an evening cup or a water bottle after a hike or run all work.

Can I put osha root tincture in hot tea?

Yes. Stir it in once the tea has cooled enough to drink. The earthy, celery-like flavour sits well with plain black or green tea.

How long does a bottle of Bear Root last?

A 50 ml bottle lasts 30 to 50 days at 1 to 2 droppers a day.